Kershaw has righted his ship

Like Mark Twain, the reports of Clayton Kershaw’s demise were greatly exaggerated.

After winning the NL MVP and Cy Young awards last year, the Dodger southpaw struggled out of the gates in 2015, posting a high ERA and a losing record.

In his last three starts, Kershaw has looked like, well, Kershaw.

On May 26 he beat the Braves, giving up four hits through seven innings and striking out 10.

On June 1 he beat the Rockies in Colorado, no small feat, holding the Rocks to five hits through seven frames and striking out seven.

On June 6, Kershaw exorcised some of the demons from last year’s playoffs, tossing a one-hitter against the Cardinals through eight innings and striking out 11.

Now 5-3, his ERA is still higher than he would like (3.36) but he pitched shutout innings against the Braves and the Cards, surrendering two runs against the Rockies. That’s two runs in 22 innings.

His 101 strikeouts are third in the major leagues behind Cleveland’s Corey Kluber and Tampa Bay’s Chris Archer.

Teammate Zack Greinke is having a strong year and Brett Anderson, Mike Bolsinger and Carlos Frias have put in solid work in the 3-5 spots in the rotation.

The Dodgers go into tonight’s game against Arizona with one game lead in the NL West.